As much as I hate to say it Apple makes a quality laptop. I have had many laptops in my time and I am sick of poor quality warped plastic offerings that seem to pervade the market. I like the lightweight and long battery life of the Air. I was looking at the 13" but I am trying to keep the end cost under $1500. I would have to go with the 256gb version but with the base 1.3ghz processor and 4gb of ram. Would it be unreasonable to expect this laptop to handle large multi layer psd's and RAW photos or should I save up money for an MBP or something else that's more powerful. All my software is Windows so I would pretty much have to be running boot camp and windows 8.Edited by cavallino - 7/8/13 at 11:01am

Here are some answered questions about it on Apple's site. It would probably run better on OSX, simply because Apple's software is designed around it's hardware. It creates a smoother experience. I use a Macbook and don't mind it at all, while the PC can still be used for gaming, etc.

You'd need to buy Windows for the Mac anyway, unless you already have a copy. If that's the case you could try bootcamp. I don't think it will be any sort of powerhouse, so you may just want to save up the extra cash and buy a Pro. There are some great deals on used ones if you aren't against buying used.

I have a feeling like running Windows on the lower hardware might be an issue. If it was on the Mac side I would probably not be as hesitant. The MacBook Air does not have replaceable RAM so your config there makes me a bit nervous to run Windows in bootcamp with the Photoshop intensity you are looking to do. Probably could do it but not sure that is going to be good. There are some decent Ultrabooks out there now. Have you checked them out?? Basically the same thing. The Ultrabook is an Intel standard and manufactures have to follow criteria to get that label.

Alright my first reaction was that it wouldn't be powerful enough but it was just a thought. I've mostly had HP laptops with some Dell and an Acer or two. All of them had poor fitting creaky plastic and finishes that wore out fast.

Didn't know about the non-replaceable RAM. I had thought I could upgrade it down the line. It doesn't even have to be an ultrabook, I am willing to go with something heavier (as long as the screen is 15 or under). Just don't want to spend anywhere from 1000$ to 1500 on something that isn't going to work well and doesn't feel made well.Edited by cavallino - 7/8/13 at 11:34am

Alright my first reaction was that it wouldn't be powerful enough but it was just a thought. I've mostly had HP laptops with some Dell and an Acer or two. All of them had poor fitting creaky plastic and finishes that wore out fast.

Didn't know about the non-replaceable RAM. I had thought I could upgrade it down the line.

people hate on dell, but my studio17 lasted me 4-5 years without an issue ever, and i currently have a 17R SE thats about a year or so old, again with no issues. I'd recommend going with a lenovo, IBM, MSI, or a Dell